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A very real threat to our clean water

To the editor: I am appealing to my fellow citizens to raise their voices in protest against a very real threat to our clean water. The Crawford County Board of Commissioners thought they were doing a good deed by leasing the land of the former Grayling Fish Hatchery to a fish farming entrepreneur, Dan Vogler, for 20 years.

The Anglers of the AuSable raised money to pay for studies to be done as to the overall affect this farm would have. Some people might think this would lead to the studies being biased in favor of anglers; however, if a group of concerned citizens had not paid for such a study, why or how would these studies have been done? I’ve read two such papers. To me, they very clearly show that if the Henrietta Fish Farm continues its fish production with Mr. Vogler’s proposed plan, the ripple effects will be devastating to our community, both economically and environmentally. This should not continue without appropriate pollution controls.

There are many follow-up letters regarding this that need to be written and shared. Please research and look at the data and studies available. It is our river, and it needs our protection.

Please join me in writing our County Board of Commissioners, Heidi Grether, head of the DEQ (hgrether@michigan.gov), our state representatives, our governor (rsnyder@michigan.gov), and letters to editors in regard to this issue.